[Walter Soyka]

It says, “Mac compatible” under Specifications, though it makes no mention of it under System Requirements. My other Kensington devices can connect to my Macs as generic HID devices, so perhaps this is the case here as well.

Reviews of the wired version on Apple.com are mixed, though. Why Apple does not make a full-sized Bluetooth keyboard is a continuing mystery to me.

Walter Soyka, Principal
Keen Live, Inc.
Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design
RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production

[Walter Soyka]

I’m in the same situation as you — looking to upgrade my older Wacom to the medium Intuos4.

When I know I’m sitting down to a particularly vigorous session, I will put on wrist brace before I begin work. It’s low-tech (and low-fashion!) but effective.

Walter Soyka, Principal
Keen Live, Inc.
Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design
RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production

[Walter Soyka]

Kensington makes one:

https://us.kensington.com/html/12634.html

I haven’t used this, but I have a pile of other Kensington peripherals that I’ve been happy with.

Out of curiosity, what other input devices are you using? I’m bouncing back and forth between tablets and trackballs, but I’m always looking for a good input device.

Walter Soyka, Principal
Keen Live, Inc.
Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design
RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production

[Walter Soyka]

This doesn’t have anything to do with your RAM question, but you mentioned you were using an M2TS file. This format uses interframe compression, which isn’t ideal for After Effects. You should see better performance and results if you transcode to an intraframe codec first. See “Dave’s Stock Answer #1” on this forum for more on this.

Walter Soyka, Principal
Keen Live, Inc.
Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design
RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production

[Walter Soyka]

Hi Kevin,

You might have better luck with this question in the Event Videography forum here on the Cow. I’m not a camera op, but here are a couple other issues I’d urge you to consider.

A “typical office projector” will not be suitable for this venue. You will need a larger, professional projector. The house may have one available for you to rent.

The existing stage lighting may or may not be sufficient for you needs. You might consider a site survey, and shoot some test footage under the lights with a stand-in. Any low front-fill lighting you place will splash onto the projection screen, which is especially undesirable with front projection, as it will reflect and wash out the image. Try to fill from the sides as much as possible.

Check the color temperature of the stage lighting. If it’s tungsten-balanced, projection will appear very cold on video. Ideally, your lighting and projection will have the same color temperature.

Be careful with the staging of your CEO — you’ll need to keep him out of the projection cone. You can spike where he can stand with tape on the stage floor.

Good luck,

Walter Soyka, Principal
Keen Live, Inc.
Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design
RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production

[Walter Soyka]

Scott,

Another option for you might be the new AJA Ki Pro — a standalone digital recorder that creates ProRes Quicktime files. Recording the event would be pretty much push-button simple, and then you could author the discs later in either format as a separate step on a Mac or PC with the ProRes codec installed.

Walter Soyka, Principal
Keen Live, Inc.
Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design
RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production

[Walter Soyka]

Hi Scott,

Sadly, while standalone Blu-ray recorders are available outside the US, there are none for sale yet in the US. There are rumors that we will see Blu-ray recorders stateside this year, but no actual product announcements that I am aware of.

To record 1080p on a PC, you will need a fast computer, a capture card from AJA or Blackmagic Design, and a very fast disk array. You’ll need editing software like Premiere Pro. You’ll need authoring software like Encore. It will be somewhat complicated, not really a 10-click process. If anything goes wrong with the computer while it’s capturing, you won’t have a HD backup. Encoding the Blu-ray disc will take some time.

If simplicity is the goal, and you don’t have a big need for HD today, I might consider going ahead with the DVD recorder today and waiting a couple months to see if there are any local developments on standalone Blu-ray recorders.

Walter Soyka, Principal
Keen Live, Inc.
Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design
RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production

[Walter Soyka]

Frank,

If you’re a heavy Mail.app user, I recommend MailTags from Indev Software. It’s a Mail plugin that lets you assign tags, projects, and due dates to email and integrates with Smart Mailboxes. It’s made Mail much more useful for me.

Walter Soyka, Principal
Keen Live, Inc.
Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design
RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production

[Walter Soyka]

Hi Francisco,

I’m much more a content designer than an engineer, but I hope I will be able to help anyway. My first two questions:

– Are you using a black burst generator?
– Have you set External Sync on the V8000 to match your video format? The default is OFF, and you can choose either NTSC or PAL. This is in the ADV. SETUP menu.

Walter Soyka, Principal
Keen Live, Inc.
Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design
RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production

[Walter Soyka]

Check out Trapcode Horizon — this plugin does exactly what you describe.

Walter Soyka, Principal
Keen Live, Inc.
Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design
RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production